◆ Pacific League Rakuten Eagles Nippon-Ham (3rd, Rakuten Eagles Mobile Saikyo Park Miyagi)

Rakuten Eagles win Nippon-Ham, ending their three-game losing streak.

The relief pitcher changed the course of the game. In the second inning, with both teams scoreless, McCusker hit a solo home run to right-center field off Ito. It was his seventh home run of the season and gave his team the lead.

In the sixth inning, with a one-run lead and runners on first and second with one out, McCusker hit an RBI single to left field. Asamura then hit sacrifice fly to right field to add another run. McCusker also hit doble in the eighth inning, finishing with his first four-hit since coming to Japan.

Hayakawa, who took the mound as the starting pitcher, pitched well. He kept the ball low breaking ball and handled hitter with ease. In the seventh inning, with a three-run lead, he faced a jam with one out and runners on first and third but remained unflappable.He escaped the jam with back-to-back struck out. Hayakawa pitched eight innings, allowing two hit and no runs. With a commanding pitch that saw him record 12 struck out, he led his team to a win.